A meta-analysis of executive functioning in dyslexia with consideration of the impact of comorbid ADHD

Grapheme coding was examined in French Grade 6 and Grade 8 children and adults who learned English as a second language (L2). In Experiments 1 and 2, three conditions were compared in a letter detection task in L2: (1) simple grapheme (i.e., detect “a” in black); (2) complex language-shared grapheme (i.e., “a” in brain) and (3) complex L2-specific grapheme (i.e., “a” in beach). The data indicated that graphemes in L2 words were functional sub-lexical orthographic units for these L2 learners. Moreover, L2-specific graphemes took longer to process than language-shared complex graphemes. Using the same task, Experiment 3 examined phonological influences by manipulating the cross-language congruency of grapheme-to-phoneme mappings (detect “a” in have [congruent] vs. take [incongruent]). The outcome of this study offers preliminary evidence of graphemic coding during L2 word recognition both at the orthographic and the orthography-to-phonology mapping levels.     

The effect of bilingualism on lexical learning and memory across two language modalities: some evidence for a domain-specific,but not general,advantage

ABSTRACT

The present study was conducted to replicate bilingual advantages in short-term memory for language-like material and word learning in young adults and extend this research to the sign domain, ultimately with the goal of investigating the domain specificity of bilingual advantages in cognition. Data from 112 monolingual hearing non-signers and 78 bilingual hearing non-signers were analysed for this study. Participants completed a battery of tasks assessing sign and word learning, short-term memory, working memory capacity, intelligence, and a language and demographic questionnaire. Overall, the results of this study suggested a bilingual advantage in memory for speech-like material – no other advantage (or disadvantage) was found. Results are discussed within the context of recent large-scale experimental and meta-analytic studies that have failed to find bilingual advantages in domain-general abilities such as attention control and working memory capacity in young adults.     

易学的推类逻辑

易学中的逻辑问题,是一个在易学和逻辑学研究中被忽视的问题,但又是一个关系到对中国文化史、思想史和逻辑史的再认识的重要问题。易学中的逻辑是推类逻辑,本文给出了理由,同时以现代逻辑的方法给出了易学推类逻辑的形式系统,并作了讨论。指出易学逻辑是在中国文化背景下的以汉字表述的特有逻辑形式,建立了中国古代的普遍语言,形成了自我满足的语义系统,其在为人们提供正确的认识方法和为古代科学提供认识工具方面与西方逻辑是一致的。     

Guidelines for Writing Letters to Patients

Patient letters provide a permanent record of the genetic counseling that was provided and are unique in medical care; rarely do other health care providers send summaries written specifically to their patients and families. We surveyed genetic counseling training program directors and found that while the acquisition of patient letter-writing skills was considered important, there were no specific guidelines made available to students. To develop letter-writing guidelines, we evaluated patient letters, reviewed references on professional correspondence, surveyed the medical literature, and worked with a writing consultant. The guidelines we subsequently developed and present here include a format for writing patient letters, suggestions on presenting medical information in understandable terms, and wording considerations. These patient letter-writing guidelines are intended to serve as a guide for teaching students this important skill and as a resource for practicing health care professionals.     

Can men talk about problems with weight? The therapeutic implications of a discourse analytic study

This paper discusses the implications for counsellors of a discourse analytic study examining men's talk about body weight. It is argued that research in the area of problems with body has neglected the growing pressures on men to manage body as a feature of self. This research perpetuates the dominant discursive construction of men's relationship to body as unproblematic — a construction that may present many barriers to men in seeking help for any distress encountered. An analysis of men's talk is discussed in terms of the expectation that body is not problematic and the observable downplaying of any concerns acknowledged. The accountability of body as a site of regulation also emerges within the extracts presented. It is argued that this property within the accounts resonates with work highlighting the growing pressures on men to exercise control over body. The contradictions between the two discourses identified are discussed in terms of their therapeutic implications. It is postulated that male distress emerging from the growing pressures to maintain body weight may be neglected within primary care and therapeutic domains if discourses formulating such difficulties as not relevant to men remain dominant.     

Science and Religion: Getting Ready for the Future

I explore three challenges for the current dialogue between science and religion: the challenges from hermeneutics, feminisms, and postmodernisms. Hermeneutics, defined as the practice and theory of interpretation and understanding, not only deals with questions of interpreting texts and data but also examines the role and use of language in religion and in science, but it should not stop there. Results of the post‐Kuhnian discussion are used to exemplify a wider range of hermeneutical issues, such as the ideological potential of scientific concepts, the dynamics of interdisciplinarity, and the significance of the socioeconomic situatedness of science and religion. Feminist research analyzes the consequences of the interplay of masculine, feminine, and gender typologies in religion and science. Examples from the history of science as well as current scientific conceptualizations indicate that beliefs in the inferiority of woman form part of our inherited scientific, religious, and metaphysical framework. It is argued that postmodernism in its most constructive form shares the best fruits of modernity, especially of the Enlightenment, while avoiding some of its most serious mistakes. In conclusion, reflecting on the three publics engaged in the dialogue between science and religion—academe, religious communities, and societies—I offer constructive suggestions and critical observations concerning the future of this dialogue.     

Ricoeur versus Taylor on Language and Narrative

Abstract: Although Ricoeur and Taylor are often grouped together, their conceptions of language, literature, and practical reason are very different. The first half of this essay focuses on Ricoeur's theory of triple mimesis and narrative, showing how his attempt to synthesize Kant, Husserl, and structuralism results in a formalism that blocks out the ontological, hermeneutical, and historical dimensions of literature and practical reason. The second half of the essay develops Taylor's ontological conception of public imagination and illustrates the dynamics of this conception of language and interpretation by showing how literary works debate with each other over language, subjectivity, and reference. Narrative does not just order; it argues.